HC order to put off rural poll vote count upsets BJP, Oppn

Opposition parties in Maharashtra like the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena criticised the Bombay High Court's order to postpone the counting of votes cast during local civic body elections, from 3 December to 21 December, 2025.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC issued the order on Tuesday when polling was underway for elections to 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state, days after the Maharashtra State Election Commission of Indian rescheduled elections in 24 local bodies on 20 December.

When asked about the bench's order to postpone vote counting, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said: "It is better if I don't say anything about the Election Commission of India and the court."

Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Vijay Vadettiwar sharply criticised the government and the Election Commission. He called the order postponing the counting to 21 December "throttling of democracy".